Civic bodies fail to repair city artery, police take up task

Fed up with the alleged inaction by BBMP and BWSSB for the past 3 months, traffic police finally start repairing pothole-riddled Millers Road

Civic bodies fail to repair city artery, police take up task

Fed up with the alleged inaction by BBMP and BWSSB for the past 3 months, traffic police finally start repairing pothole-riddled Millers Road

The combined failure of the BBMP and BWSSB to improve the condition of pothole-riddled Millers Road for the past three months has prompted the city traffic police to take up the task and repair the motorists' nightmare at the earliest.

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Choked: An under-construction storm water drain at Millers Road.
Pic/ Satish Badiger

The artery, situated in the heart of the city, is the centre point connecting major residential and commercial areas. After awaiting action by the civic bodies to repair the road for over three months, the traffic police have finally taken up the task. The commuters' nightmare began in May when the BWSSB dug up the road for laying a pipeline. But the Rs 14.45-lakh project to lay 350 metres of pipeline never got completed, only adding to the woes of residents, shopkeepers and commuters.

The civic body initially set a 20-day deadline to give the road a much-needed facelift, but failed to keep its word. Now that the pipes have been laid, the BWSSB has been accusing the BBMP of failing to restore the road.

"We have laid down the pipes and our part of the work is over. The BBMP is to be blamed for the delay as they haven't taken up the road restoration work yet," said T Venkataraju, engineer-in-chief, BWSSB.
However, a reality check conducted by MiD DAY at Millers Road revealed that BWSSB has not completed the work, as workers are still fixing the pipes on this road.

When questioned, BBMP responded in the same vein. "We have planned to asphalt the stretch but haven't been able to do it because of monsoon. We will restore the roads soon," said Somashekhar, Chief Engineer (Major Roads), BBMP.

Blame game
While the BBMP and BWSSB officials indulge in a blame game, commuters and vehicles are having a tough time navigating this stretch. After diverting traffic from the area through different bylanes, the traffic police have realised that it is high time something is done to clear the mess. "Due to this BWSSB project we have diverted the traffic to Millers Bund Road and Thimmaiah Road. However, now these road are not even walkable," said Praveen Sood, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic and Security).

He added that it was a complete failure of the civic bodies yet again. "Since both, the BBMP and BWSSB have raised their hands, the traffic department has been working overtime on the stretch to restore the road. The cops from our department have gone to the extent of filling up the pothole with debris themselves," said Sood.
To make matters worse, a huge portion of Millers Road near Ambedkar Bhavan caved in over the weekend due to the incessant rains, thereby choking traffic movement. The BBMP has now assured that the work will be completed in a few months.

Residents irked
"When they started the work, they had promised to finish it within 20 days. It has been almost four months now and the condition of the roads hasn't improved. How can they blame the rains when they started work much before the onset of the monsoon," said Srinivas, a chemist, adding that all the commercial establishments in the area have had to bear the brunt. "We have to walk an extra three kilometres just to catch a bus because of the bus stop has been shifted. How pathetic are these civic agencies? Can't they see our problem?" said Naveen Jain, a resident of the area.